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May/June 2016 The Palisades Community Church: A Shining Light for Christian Unity and a Spiritual Home for All Vol. 84, Issue 3

Jeff ’s Journal

A ccording to a recent survey, Washington D.C. is the

“snobbiest” city on the East Coast! The research is reported by roadsnacks.net, which claims to use “data to create bite-sized snacks of shareable information about places and cities”. The ranking is based on scientific data “to determine which American cities probably think they’re better than you.” The West Coast beats the East Coast, hands down. San Francisco came in first, followed by Berkeley and then Pasadena. In fact, all of the top 10 are located in the states of California, Arizona, and Washing-ton... ...except Washington D.C., the only city on the East Coast in the rankings! We came in seventh! The survey considered 250 cities in all, analyzing factors such as the number of Whole Foods stores, art galleries, private schools, percentage of population with a college degree, housing prices and household in-come. The researchers concluded that, though there is a large segment of the population struggling in D.C., “the wealthy, connected portion of the population more than makes up for it.” We are apparently a “culture snob’s dream”, with hundreds of pri-vate art museums, and venues for opera, ballet, and symphony. The site asks: “Does being from D.C. automatically make you a snob?” And the site answers: “Only when

Continued on page 2

Jim Winkler to Preach on Confirmation Sunday

The Season of Pentecost

W e are “Easter People”…always! But now the Christian year turns to the Season of

Pentecost. On May 15, we will commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples (The Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 2). It is the Birthday of the Church!

Still mourning the death of Christ, and reflecting upon the effect he had on their lives, the followers were assembled together in Jerusalem. Suddenly there was a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent wind, filling the house where they were meeting. Flames of fire hovered in the room. Each one began to proclaim Jesus in a native language not discernible to others. They were filled with the Holy Spirit! Luke, the author of Acts, no doubt learned the story directly from some who were present at the event. For them, this was the fulfillment of Christ’s promise. The intense experience instilled courage and new determination in the little band, who only a few days before had huddled behind doors for fear of their lives. So by the gift and power of the Holy Spirit, the young Church began the work that continues today in the Palisades, and in every corner of the world

L ilah Mehri and Beau Johnson, pride and joy of the Palisades Community Church, will be

confirmed on May 15, which is Pentecost Sunday. Our first confirmands in more than five years, Lilah and Beau have faithfully participated in classes led by Pastors Jeff and Beth. Discussions have covered the Old and New Testaments, church history, PCC history, church seasons and rituals, and social issues. It is a great honor to welcome Jim Winkler as our guest preacher on Lilah and Beau’s special day—the Birthday of the Church! Jim Winkler serves as Presi-dent and General Secretary of the National Council of Churches (NCC), the largest ecumenical body in the United States. The International Council of Community Churches, which includes Palisades Community Church, is a member of the NCC along with 37 other denominations comprised of more than 30 mil-lion Christians in over 100,000 local churches across the country. Jim has worked with and been a good friend of Rev. Stinehelfer for 20 years. He is married and has three children.

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you act like it.” Having recently visited Folger’s museum, and privately toured the reading rooms of the Library of Congress, and enjoyed two Kennedy Center stage performances, and become a member of the Sandy Spring Museum, and owning as I do a gradu-ate degree from an Ivy League seminary, I thought how inconsiderate it is of roadsnacks.net to publish such results without even talking with me! And if they didn’t talk with you, you have a right to be equally af-fronted! What snobs they are! Then, thanks to my seminary training (did I mention that it was in the Ivy League?), I remem-bered that the word “conceit” appears somewhere in the letters of the Apostle Paul, and “conceit” seems a fair description for the character of a “snob”. And there it is, in Philippians 2:3-5: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interest of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.” Whoa! How did Paul learn so much about “snobby-ness”? Concerts in Damascus? Stadiums in Ephesus? Libraries in Athens? Theatre in Rome? Surveys throughout Asia Minor? The evangelist Dwight L. Moody has cautioned: “God sends no one away empty except those that are full of themselves.” And Moody Bible Institute is not even in the Ivy League! Does being from D.C. automatically make me a

snob? Only when I act like it!

Armenian Martyrs Sunday

Observed at PCC

O n April 24, our

worship fo-

cused on the history

of the nation of Ar-

menia, including the

tragic genocide of the

Armenian people

during World War I.

Sam Goekjian (right),

our member and

friend, recounted the

experience of his

own family through

that difficult period. Thank you for sharing, Sam!

Jeff’s Journal continued from page 1

May 1 Sixth Sunday of Easter: Holy Communion Rev. Stinehelfer preaching: “Notes from the Upper Room” May 8 Seventh Sunday of Easter: Mission Sunday; Mother’s Day Rev. Stinehelfer preaching: Part I of a Sermon Series “Dorcas, Lydia, and Priscilla: Women of the Early Church” Special program by the PCC children during the Mother’s Day Tea May 15 Pentecost Sunday: Confirmation Service for Lilah Mehri and Beau Johnson Mr. James Winkler preaching, President and General Secretary, National Council of Churches May 22 First Sunday after Pentecost Rev. Stinehelfer preaching: “Shakespeare and the Bible” Special Music: Sandy Choi (violin) 400th Anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death May 29 Second Sunday after Pentecost: Memorial Day Weekend Rev. Stinehelfer preaching: “One Sanctuary, Two Flags” June 5 Third Sunday after Pentecost: Holy Communion Rev. Stinehelfer preaching: “Life Is Like an Ice Cream Cone” Celebration for Graduating Senior Olivia Noss June 12 Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: Mission Sunday Rev. Stinehelfer preaching: “Christian Mission in a Changing World” June 20 is United Nation’s “World Refugee Day”

SUMMER WORSHIP SCHEDULE (9:30 fellowship in the Eternity Garden; 10:00 worship in the sanctuary)

June 19 Fifth Sunday after Pentecost: Father’s Day Rev. Stinehelfer preaching: Part II of a Sermon Series “Ananias, Stephen, and Thomas: Men of the Early Church” Special program by the PCC children during fellowship time June 26 Sixth Sunday after Pentecost Rev. Stinehelfer preaching: Part III of a Sermon Series “Paul of Tarsus: Roving Ambassador of the Early Church” Special recognition of preschool teacher Tricia Lathan

Schedule of Services at Palisades Community Church

(Sunday worship is at 11:00 a.m., with fellowship at 12:00 noon, until June 19, when fellowship at 9:30 in the Eternity Garden

precedes worship at 10:00 in the sanctuary)

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Olivia Noss Celebrates Graduation

J oin in the recognition of Olivia on June 5th at church! After thirteen years at

the Washington Internation-al School (WIS), a private bilingual IB international school which focuses on global citizenship, Olivia is off and running to Tulane University this fall. She’s excited about the prospect of studying at an outstand-ing mid-sized university in one of America’s most entertaining and artistic cities, New Orleans! Olivia goes to Tulane with a merit scholarship and a desire to double major in the fine arts and psychology or business. She plans to live in the honors dorm and get in-volved in some of the many community service projects Tulane has spearheaded after Hurricane Katrina. And she hopes to strike a balance between the many stimulating aca-demic offerings at Tulane and the lively festivals and fun in New Orleans! Aside from hitting the books pretty hard in high school, Olivia has spent much of her time at WIS starring in plays, singing, and playing guitar in the school Coffee House, or drawing and doing cut paper collage work in the studio as an IB art student. So it seems natural that she should choose a school that will allow her to deepen and encourage her artistic interests while pursuing additional disciplines fueling the other side of her brain! Olivia will miss the many international friends at WIS, but looks forward to expand-ing her universe and experimenting in the wider world.

Beloved Teacher Tricia Lathan Leaves Preschool

T ricia Lathan (right) who has taught hundreds of this

community’s children, is moving on to other endeavors after nearly 30 years on the faculty of The Community Preschool of the Palisades. She returns to her home in Great Britain, as she does each year, following the summer camp session. For all

these years, Tricia has not only been a valued member of the teaching faculty, and camp director, but has also served as the preschool’s Assistant Director. PCC has engaged Tricia to lead Sunday School until she departs. On Sunday, June 26, we will honor Tricia for her extraordinary service to our church and community.

Shakespeare and Sandy!

S andy Choi, violin-ist, is an active

freelancer who has performed with profes-sional ensembles in-cluding the Alexandria Symphony, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Emmanuel Music, Southwest Flor-ida Symphony Orches-tra, Washington Con-cert Opera Orchestra, and Wolf Trap Or-chestra. As concert-master of the Avanti Orchestra of the Fri-day Morning Music Club, she has been praised by Washington Post for her “assured and sinuous solos.” A diverse perform-er, Ms. Choi can be heard on recordings by musicians rang-ing from virtuoso violinist, Rachel Barton Pine, to indie rock artist, Laura Tsaggaris. She studied Music and Eco-nomics at MIT, where she performed the Khachaturian Violin Concerto as winner of the MIT Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, and received her Master of Interna-tional Affairs from Columbia University’s School of Inter-national and Public Affairs. She is also a graduate of the prestigious Center for Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA) pro-gram at the American University in Cairo. She teaches violin at Holton-Arms School as well as in her private studio in Washington, DC, where she lives with her husband and two children. But we at PCC have come to know “Ms. Choi” as Sandy, wife of Blake, and mother of David (4) and Astrid (going on 2)! Sandy has graciously accepted Pastor Jeff’s invitation to play “something Shakespeare” when he preaches on the bard’s use of biblical literature. All this will recognize the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. Could there be a more intriguing collaboration than “Sandy and Bill”? Come see at church on May 22!

Olivia with Louisa Dugan, her proud mother.

Bill hung out at the Globe Theatre in London.

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1. The Parade moves up Cathedral Ave. 2. Alex and Christian Zimmerman lead

the parade into the church. 3. Our Chancel Choir welcomes the

parade into the sanctuary. 4. The Zimmeman and Lake kids make

posters before worship. 5. Liz Ornelas and Bill Wilson create

posters during the workshop. 6. Jessie Zimmerman with her poster. 7. Celeste and Charlie Riley with Jessie

at the workshop. 8. David Choi prepares for the parade.

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Parade for Jesus On Palm Sunday! This year on Palm Sunday (March 20), church began with a workshop in Memorial Hall at 10:30. Everyone prepared posters

and other symbols for use in a Palm Sunday Parade, re-enacting the crowd welcoming Jesus in Jerusalem. After marching outside and then into the sanctuary, the congregation participated in a group narration of the Palm Sunday tradition.

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1. The kids with Pastor Jeff for the Children’s Message. 2. The Chancel Choir with guest vocalists. 3. Sandy Choi accompanies the choir. 4. Liz Ornelas, Astrid Choi, Nina Schierow. 5. The kids enjoyed the Egg Hunt. 6. The Stein family: Peer, Juliana, Leo, Caspar

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Special Music, Easter Tea, and Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday! On March 27, a beautiful spring day, the Palisades Community Church celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in

worship, fellowship, and traditional Easter activities. Once again we happily welcomed extended families of our members, and many visitors from the community. Easter demonstrated, as always, that our middle name is “community”.

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The Palisades Community Church 5200 Cathedral Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20016-2665

Rev. Jeffrey Stinehelfer, Senior Pastor Rev. Beth McKinney, Assistant Pastor

Polly Johnson, Administrator Phone: 202.966.7929, email: paliscomch@verizon.net,

www.thepalisadeschurch.org

On the church calendar Sunday, May 1 Communion Sunday

Sunday, May 8 Mission Sunday hosts Gary Maring from the N Street Village Mission, Mother’s Day Tea.

Sunday, May 15 Confirmation Sunday: Lilah and Beau with Mr. Jim Winkler. Council meeting following fellowship hour.

Sunday, May 22 Bill Shakespeare, Sandy Choi and Jeff Stinehelfer!

Sunday, June 5 Communion, and Olivia Noss’ graduation.

Sunday, June 12 Mission Sunday hosts speaker from Heifer International

Sunday, June 19 Father’s Day (summer schedule begins)

Stewardship Report

W e continue to make progress toward our 2016 goal of $70,000 in pledges. 20 families/individual units have

pledged $42,000. There are 10 units who usually contribute but prefer not to pledge. History suggests to expect $20,000 from this group. Others have pledged in prior years, but not yet this year. The Stewardship Committee is reaching out to those who have not yet pledged, seeking a firmer commitment in order to solidify our finances for this year.

Participation & Membership Report

O n April 29, Katherine, Juliana, Polly, Rick, and Jeff met to discuss outreach to new visitors, special

events, and our use of the internet. We plan to redesign the pew “visitor card”, and to en-courage PCC members to better connect with first time and occasional guests, with warm welcomes, coffee hour con-versation, and follow up contact. We are considering a sum-mer outdoor concert for the community. Any PCC member is invited to attend a social media training session on May 14 from 5-7pm in Alexandria. Contact Rick if interested.